What a difference eight years makes.

In 1998, students and staff at White Center Heights Elementary in North Highline were forced out of their school by slimy toxic mold.

For six years, the students were bused to an old school building a mile and a half from their neighborhood school.

But this month, the architectural plans for White Center Heights’ new two-story, 64,000 square foot elementary school and community center were featured at a national school board association conference in Chicago.

The convention was held April 8 to 11.

“It was a great opportunity for the Highline School District to be seen nationally and to have one of its capital facilities be recognized,” Peter Andersen, a principal at the Cornerstone Architectural Group, declared.

Cornerstone designed White Center Heights as well as the new Hazel Valley Elementary in Burien. The two buildings are among nine schools replaced using bond funds approved by voters in 2002.

An additional five schools will be rebuilt as a result of another bond victory last month.

Andersen said the plans were chosen for display because the school, which includes a community center, is the “focal point” for redevelopment of the neighborhood.

Park Lake Homes, a low-income public housing project across the street, has been renamed Greenbridge. Mixed-income housing will replace the old development.

“White Center Heights forms an anchor design and a statement of renewal for the neighborhood,” he noted.

An outdoor plaza can be shared between the school and community along with all weather baseball and soccer fields.

Inside, community members can also use a 5,300 square-foot “high school sized” gymnasium. A multipurpose room with stage area and moveable walls is also available.

The school design features outdoor wood figures of children in walnut, mahogany, maple and cherry that reflect the diversity of students.

Thirty-four different countries are represented at the school where 80 percent of the students speak a language other than English at home. Twenty-seven different languages are spoken.

Recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union make up a large portion of the 13.5 percent of students who are white.

Many of the students or their parents fled from war-torn countries such as Somalia, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Laos, Vietnam, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Ninety percent of the students qualified for a free or reduced-fee school lunch.

The school’s diversity interested filmmaker Todd Coughlin, who returned to White Center to make a movie in 2003 about his former community.

He quickly switched his focus to the school and called the movie, “A Family of Many Nations.”

Concluded Coughlin, “Right here in the neighborhood where I grew up is an amazing cross culture that tells an interesting story of how much change has occurred in a very short period of time.”

Film editor Matt Krzycki noted, “The teachers and students are the real heroes of this story and it’s positive look at what educators are doing right in the face of challenging realities and far from perfect support.”

This month’s display of architectural plans in Chicago is not the only national recognition for the school.

The March 6 edition of Scholastic News mentioned White Center Heights’ chess program.

With a $20,000 King County grant, experts visit the school and Southern Heights Elementary in North Highline once a week to teach chess to second and third-graders.

In the national publication, principal Greta Salmi said chess helped students improve their thinking skills while having fun.

Eric Mathison can be reached at hteditor@robinsonnews.com or 206-388-1855.